Two migrants sent behind bars for illegally crossing the border: they really wanted to go to Germany, so they refused asylum in Lithuania

Foreigners from Belarus, who introduced themselves to Mohamad Wasimu Hamid and Hamza Hayek Mahmoud, arrived in Lithuania on the night of July 29.

The men who crossed the border illegally were detained by border guards, but unlike thousands of their destination friends, they said they wanted to travel to Germany and did not want asylum in Lithuania.

Such a decision resulted in convictions for both men: they were charged with illegally crossing the border and the Vilnius Regional District Court sentenced both migrants to 45 days in prison.

However, the migrants detained from the moment of their arrival effectively complied with the arrest warrant that was imposed on them pending a judicial decision. What to do next with them is unknown. To the knowledge of Delphi, they will be transported from detention to the migrant camp and a decision will be made on how to return them to their country of origin.

Traveled from russia

The two captured Iraqis said they left their homeland together in Russia a couple of years ago. He applied for asylum there, but without receiving it, he remained living there illegally and working in construction.

In early July, they found information on the Internet that the border between Lithuania and Belarus is poorly guarded.

“I read that it could easily be passed illegally,” MW Hamid told officials.

“I wanted to get to Germany, where my brother lives. I can’t go home, there is a war, I think it broke out, I was kidnapped by terrorists several times, my mother paid a ransom, my son died during the bombing,” he added.

Deciding to travel to Lithuania, they paid the taxi driver 50 thousand. Russian rubles (about 582 Eur) to take them to Belarus. There they immediately went to the border with Lithuania.

“We went to Lithuania using navigation. Then the Internet disappeared, so we got lost, ”said MW Hamid.

Almost overnight, friends wandering through the woods between Lithuania and Belarus managed to cross the border illegally more than once.

“We realized that we were crossing the state border illegally,” both visitors admitted.

Asylum did not want

Eventually, both migrants were able to connect to the internet and, with the help of navigation, they went deep into Lithuania, where they were captured by border guards near the border.

Both trapped men indicated in writing to border guards that they did not want asylum in Lithuania. One of them explained that he did it out of stress.

“I wanted to go to any European country. When they arrested me, there was a lot of stress, I was handcuffed, so I wrote spontaneously that I did not want asylum, I wanted to go to Germany,” explained SS Mahmoud.

At the time, MW Hamid said that he wanted a brother to live in Germany, so he did not want to stay in Lithuania.

It is true that both men, after receiving the accusations, changed their minds and assured that they too could stay in our country, but in no way do they agree to be returned to their homeland, because it is unsafe for them there.

However, both newcomers changed their minds too late and were therefore found guilty under article 291 of the Penal Code.

Threaten others too

This year, more than 4,000 people have already arrived in Lithuania from Belarus. migrants who have crossed the border illegally.

Almost all of them immediately applied for asylum in Lithuania. So far, no asylum applications have been granted.

So far, the puzzle of what to do with these newcomers has been solved. Lithuania offers them to return home voluntarily, they buy them plane tickets and give them 300 euros, but that only tempts a minority.

Those migrants who are not granted asylum also run the risk of incurring criminal responsibility for illegal border crossings.

However, the penalties for this crime are not very severe, the maximum liability provided by law is imprisonment for up to 2 years. Still, people who have not been convicted in the past can expect much lower fines and pay with a fine or arrest.